Healthy hygiene habits at school

Helping to keep your children healthy at school through good hygiene.

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Whether your child is starting school for the first time or returning after the holidays, mixing with lots of other children will expose him or her to many more germs than there are at home. While you can’t prevent contact with all germs (and remember that exposure to some germs is a good thing), you can help reduce the risk of your child picking up an infection through healthy hygiene habits.

How do germs spread at school?

School children often pick up cold and flu viruses or tummy bugs that can lead to diarrhoea. These infections can spread very quickly from child to child by touching a contaminated surface. Germs also spread very quickly in the air via coughs and sneezes, as well as by eating contaminated food.

Why is good hygiene important?

Once your child becomes infected, germs can quickly spread to the rest of your family at home. Bouts of the common cold and upset tummies are common at the start of a new term – both in schools and families. So, helping your child understand about good hygiene will go a long way to helping them and the rest of your family stay healthy.

Avoid spreading cold and flu viruses

Although vaccinations can protect your child from some serious diseases such as tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough, injections cannot protect children from every type of harmful bacteria.

Top tips for good school hygiene

1. Keep hands clean

Thorough hand washing is the single most effective way to help prevent the spread of infections in schools. Teach your children how and when to wash their hands (rubbing the hands together for at least 20 seconds using soap and clean running water). Always wash hands:

After using the toilet

Before eating

After playing outside

After touching something dirty

After coughing, sneezing or blowing their nose

After touching a dirty tissue

After petting/stroking animals

Whenever hands look dirty

2. Coughs and sneezes spread diseases

Teach your children to cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing to stop germs from becoming airborne. Throw used tissues in a bin and always wash hands with soap and water afterwards.

If there isn’t a tissue available, encourage your child to sneeze or cough into the crook of their elbow instead of their hands, to reduce the spread of bacteria.

3. Healthy diet

Whether your child has a packed lunch or a school dinner, a varied and balanced diet will help protect their health and promote proper growth and development. Eating properly also aids concentration during lessons.

Preparing a packed lunchMake sure you wash and dry your hands before you start making a packed lunch. Your kitchen surfaces should also be clean and disinfected. Then:

Check all foods are within their best-before dates

Use an airtight, rigid lunch box that is washed and dried before and after use

Wash fruit, salad and vegetables thoroughly in fresh clean water

Try to prepare food fresh each day, as there will be less opportunity for germs to grow

4. Drink plenty of water

Water is much healthier than drinks that are high in sugar, sweeteners, additives and caffeine. Encourage your child to drink plenty of water throughout the day, as even slight dehydration can lead to poor concentration, lethargy, irritability and headaches.

Dealing with Illness

If your child is unwell, keep them away from school until they are fully recovered and feel able to join in. If they come back too early, they risk spreading their germs to other children.

As a rough guide, keep children away from school when suffering from the following infectious diseases:

Chickenpox: For five days after the rash appearsVomiting and diarrhoea: Until 48 hours after the last episode of vomiting or diarrhoeaThe Flu: Until completely recoveredMeasles: For four days after the rash appearsBacterial Meningitis: Until completely recovered

How you can help:

As well as encouraging good hygiene in children, you can also help prevent the spread of germs in school by following these basic steps:

Keep school bags clean and free from food remnants, especially if your child carries a packed lunch to school

Gym clothes should be brought home once a week for washing

Make sure your children change their socks and underwear daily

Wash school uniforms on a high temperature to kill bacteria. For delicate clothes that cannot be washed at 60°C, try adding Dettol Laundry Sanitiser to your wash

Also in this section:

Illnesses

A guide to the most common illnesses from cold & flu and tummy bugs to typhoid and dysentery, we’ll tell you what causes common bugs, how to avoid them and the myths around them.

How to wash hands

You’ve been washing your hands all your life – but have you been doing it correctly? Good hand washing technique is critical to make sure you are protecting yourself and others from the spread of harmful germs. Find out how you should be washing your hands with our simple guide.

Preventing Disease and Infection Control

Learn about breaking the chain of infection through better hygiene to help keep you and your family healthy.